


Wavering Hatred

by themagnificentquack



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Slightly graphic description of injury, i made stitching up a wound erotic because that's what we do here, then i made a stakeout romantic (because that's what we do here)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:55:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23690422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themagnificentquack/pseuds/themagnificentquack
Summary: two times when Laurel and Dinah end up in each other's presence because the rest of the team is with their loved ones
Relationships: Dinah Drake/Earth-2 Laurel Lance, Dinah Drake/Laurel Lance
Comments: 8
Kudos: 64





	1. Chapter 1

Laurel stumbled into the Arrow Cave clutching her bloodied shoulder. She scanned the monitor station, hoping to see Felicity, but finding no one. 

Grunts of exertion and the clink of the chain securing the punching bag to the ceiling drew her ear. She made her way over to it, wincing as each step jarred her wound. She knew whoever was working out wasn't Felicity considering she gave up on exercise years ago in favor of a (stolen) police grade taser. She just hoped it wasn't Dinah.

She determined luck was not on her side when she saw it was Dinah working out, although maybe the unpleasant interaction brewing would be worth it to see Dinah in her workout gear. Her shirt was discarded in a heap next to her, leaving her in loose basketball shorts and a sports bra. Laurel tried not to look, but the cursory glance she allowed herself before she realized who it was was enough to make her heart pound and her mouth dry. She swallowed audibly, forgetting for a moment about the throbbing pain in her shoulder. 

Dinah looked up, somehow sensing Laurel's presence despite the music blaring from her earbuds. She pulled them out and nodded a greeting, saying "Laurel" in an even tone. She was breathing heavily, still recovering from an intense volley of punches. For a brief moment Laurel imagined Dinah's hair splayed out over a pillow, her breathing heavy for an entirely different reason. She snapped herself out of it before the image really took form, cursing herself for possibly displaying her feelings to Dinah. Her voice was hoarse- with pain or attraction she wasn't sure- when she replied "Dinah". 

"What happened to you?" Dinah asked, indicating Laurel's wounded shoulder. She shrugged. "It's nothing." When Dinah raised an eyebrow, she added "I didn't do anything illegal I swear. I'm just going up against some powerful people in a case I'm working on." Dinah's eyebrow returned to its original spot, but she remained unimpressed. "Then why didn't you go to the hospital?" she asked, subtly entering combat stance. Laurel sighed at the shift in position. "Because this kind of wound will warrant an overnight stay and if I'm not in court tomorrow an innocent kid is going to die in prison," she explained, her voice carefully devoid of emotion. 

Dinah turned to face her, arms crossed, and it was like looking at the sun. Laurel glanced at the floor, unable to hold Dinah's searching gaze. When the silence in the room stretched too long for Laurel to bear, she broke it. "Is Felicity here?" she asked. 

"Nothing was coming up tonight so everyone's spending some time with their loved ones." Laurel looked up in time to see pain flash across Dinah's face before it was hidden by a thin veil of anger. "Only you killed my loved one Laurel". There was no possible response to that. I'm sorry would be impossibly inadequate. 

Laurel turned away and busied herself collecting everything she'd need to treat the wound, Dinah's words echoing in her head. The shot went through and through, so she wouldn't need to fish the bullet out which was certainly a positive, but it also meant that there was an exit wound she was going to have a lot of trouble reaching. She had hoped Felicity would be able to help but considering Dinah's unwavering hatred, it seemed Laurel would have to do it on her own. She decided to deal with the entry wound, and deal with the exit once she wasn't losing so much blood. 

Dinah returned to the punching bag, but Laurel didn't hear it moving. 

Laurel stripped off her jacket and her shirt, wincing when she had to pull the latter from her open wound. She rolled it up and stuck it into her mouth to give her something to bite down on, not wanting to annoy Dinah with unnecessary sound. Then, before she could lose her nerve, she pressed a cloth covered in disinfectant to the wound, groaning into her shirt when it burned, bringing tears to her eyes. She quickly threaded the needle and got to work, biting down hard to silence her pained groans each time the needle punched into her skin. 

She felt the pull of the thread through her skin each time she made a knot, the four shaped stitch reminding her of the friendship bracelets she and Sara made as children. 

She finished off the final knot with a sigh of relief, her shoulder screaming in pain. Sweat was beading all over her body and her hands were shaking slightly as the adrenaline from her escape faded. She gently pulled her shirt out of her mouth and took a deep breath. She had no idea how she was going to fix the exit wound. 

Before she had the chance to twist to try to see the state of the injury, hands were on her bare back, calloused but gentle. She turned quickly, startled. She'd almost forgotten that Dinah was there. 

"I'll do the exit wound," Dinah murmured. Her hands never left Laurel's back and the sensation was both terrifying and calming, despite the pain. Dinah must have noticed the surprise on her face because she added "Can't have the D.A. bleeding out, can we?" Laurel handed her the needle and turned around, placing her life in Dinah's hands. Her quiet "thanks" was meant to be sarcastic but it came out more genuine than she intended. 

She clenched her jaw, unwilling to let any sign of weakness escape. She breathed out shakily when Dinah finished the knots a little more forcefully than necessary. Laurel moved to stand up, to get the hell out of there and let her walls down for a moment, but Dinah placed her hands on Laurel's shoulders, preventing her escape. "At least let me cover it with a bandage," she said. Laurel sat, silencing the sigh of aggravation that rested on the tip of her tongue. 

Dinah made no attempt to be gentle, in fact Laurel wondered if she was being harsh on purpose when she pressed down to seal it a little harder than necessary, causing Laurel to wince as the pain escalated sharply for a moment. 

Laurel stood up quickly when Dinah finished, becoming more and more desperate to escape as time passed. As much as she hated to admit it, having Dinah's hands on her body was having an effect on her and she needed to get out before Dinah noticed. 

Unfortunately, her exit was once again blocked when Dinah crossed in front of her, standing a little too close to be comfortable. Laurel was suddenly very aware that they were both shirtless. 

Dinah grabbed another bandage off the table and pressed it carefully over the entry wound. Laurel swallowed when Dinah moved her bra aside to place the bottom edge of the bandage. Even through the cloth, Dinah's hands lit trails of fire across her skin. Laurel felt her face heat up, the pink of her cheeks matching the color that swept across her chest like a wildfire. 

She let her gaze drop to where Dinah's dexterous fingers secured the bandage, and noticed that her hands shook ever so slightly. It could just be repressed rage, but one glance at Dinah's parted lips and blown out pupils and she knew it was something else. 

The confidence granted to her by Dinah's clear attraction allowed Laurel's gaze to drift to the way Dinah's chest spilled out of her sports bra, sweat from her workout coating her entire body. Laurel was met with the almost irresistible desire to run her hands over Dinah's stomach. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth to prevent herself from moaning at the thought. 

Dinah finished up with the bandage and took a step back, giving Laurel her breath back. 

"Try not to let this case kill you," Dinah said, a sarcastic note to her voice. Laurel twisted her face into what she hoped looked like a mocking smile, her face painted with regret. "We both know I'm too selfish to die," she said. 

All of a sudden Dinah was close to her again and Laurel's breath was taken away just as quickly as it was given. "Survival isn't selfish." Dinah said. "It's human nature." Was Laurel imagining the huskiness in her voice? "Says the woman who risks her life to help people every night." Laurel replied, trying to keep her cool. "And what do you call that?" Dinah shot back, indicating Laurel's wound. 

Before she could formulate a response, Dinah leaned in, holding herself up with the table behind Laurel, boxing her in. Laurel was vaguely aware she was supposed to be saying something right now, but her mind had gone completely blank because they were 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦. 

Dinah's gaze flickered down to her lips, then back up to meet her eyes. Holding her breath, Laurel leaned forward slowly, giving Dinah plenty of time to push her away. She could feel the electricity sparking between her as they moved closer- 

The elevator arrived at the bunker with a loud ding! and Dinah stepped back quickly. 

Felicity and Oliver appeared when the doors opened, the latter looking slightly jumpy. "Told you." Felicity said. "It was just Laurel." Oliver nodded looking embarrassed. "Sorry. I guess prison affected me more than I thought." He said. Felicity stood on her tiptoes to kiss him, both of them completely ignoring Laurel and Dinah. 

Laurel started cleaning up, hoping to leave without a conversation, but Oliver broke the kiss and stopped her. "What were you doing here?" He asked, suspicion coloring his voice. Felicity sighed with annoyance- she'd been on Laurel's side since they got Oliver out of prison. "Just needed some stitches." Laurel said, her mask going up as it always did in Oliver's presence. 

She pulled her shirt on in an attempt to cover the flush that had spread over her body, wincing when she had to raise her arm. She wasn't ashamed of what had nearly happened, but something about the look on Dinah's face made her want to hide it. Oliver seemed oblivious, but the knowing look on Felicity's face made her nervous. 

Laurel was of half a mind to just wait until Oliver and Felicity left so she and Dinah could continue where they left off, but the look of disgust on Oliver's face made her almost desperate to leave. 

She whispered "Bye" to Dinah and slipped out, the memory of Dinah's body close to hers burned into her brain like a tattoo.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> felicity has a plan, a stakeout occurs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> by the way omw means on my way (not sure if that's regional or just an American thing or something)

It had been almost two weeks since their almost kiss in the bunker and Laurel and Dinah still hadn't talked (or fucked for that matter). They saw each other in meetings occasionally, but beyond that it was total radio silence. 

Laurel was tempted to make an excuse to go see Dinah, but she figured it would make sense if Dinah didn't want to see her. She did kill the man she loved. There was no coming back from that. So Laurel stayed away. 

Thoughts about Dinah dominated her brain more and more the longer they stayed apart, making it harder to Laurel to focus. When Felicity called her out on it during one of their coffee "dates", she played it off, claiming it was something to do with work. The now familiar knowing look in Felicity's eyes made it clear that her excuse was found lacking. 

"It's Valentine's Day tomorrow. You doing anything special?" Felicity asked, in a faux innocent voice. Laurel only rolled her eyes. "You know I'm not," she said. A mischievous smile threatened to reveal itself on Felicity's face. Laurel was sure she didn't want to know the meaning of that particular look, so she decided to change the subject. "Are you and Oliver doing anything?" she asked. 

Felicity began blabbering on about the fancy date Oliver had planned, and Laurel quickly tuned her out, allowing her thoughts to drift back to Dinah. 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Laurel got a series of texts from Felicity as she was leaving the office late the next night. They were all encrypted, so she knew whatever it was about wasn't legal. She used her password to open the message and was met with a standard info tag on a criminal. The next couple of texts detailed a good spot for a stakeout and the possible buyers for the malware the target was selling.

-Why me?- Laurel texted back. She didn't want to complain, but she rarely worked with Team Arrow unless she had particular experience or insight on a situation. Most of the time preferred to stay away from her as much as possible. 

Laurel's phone dinged and she rolled her eyes at the language of Felicity's text. -u + D only one's w/o partners, rest of team wanted off 4 V day-

Laurel's heart sped up when she saw who would be joining her. -Dinah?- she texted back, just to be sure. -its a 2 woman job. 1 person on lookout, 1 sniper- Felicity replied. Laurel frowned in defeat. -omw- she wrote back. 

She changed into her gym clothes before heading to the stakeout spot, as Felicity had b=made it clear that they would be on a roof and she didn't want to mess up her suit. Luckily, everyone else had cleared out by that point, so she was able to escape to the garage without being seen. 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dinah was already there when she arrived, setting up the rifle with a long range camera on its stand beside her. 

Laurel shivered, the wind was intense so high up, making an already cold night even worse (and okay, it didn't help that Dinah's hair was ruffled and her cheeks were pink from the wind) but it was mostly because her t-shirt and shorts were dramatically unsuited to the February weather. 

She took her spot next to Dinah and muttered a soft "Hello", acutely aware of the heat radiating from Dinah's body beside her. 

Laurel adjusted the camera to her eye, focusing on the expensive hotel room housing the hacker across the way. 

It didn't take long for Laurel's teeth to start chattering, the cold concrete of the roof seeping into her bones. "You are not dressed for this," Dinah said. Laurel glanced over at her, not expecting to hear her voice. She was dressed warmly, clearly prepared to spend hours on the rooftop. Laurel shrugged. "I came straight from the office," she explained, expecting that to be the end of the conversation. 

Dinah reached into her backpack, her eye never leaving the scope of her rifle, and pulled out a blanket. Laurel was shocked when she spread it over the both of them and asked, "Working late?" 

Laurel hummed in response, fully aware of the implication behind the question. "Valentine's Day isn't really my thing," she said. "I haven't celebrated since Oliver and Sara died on the Queen's Gambit on my Earth." She wasn't sure why she shared that last part. She didn't talk about her Earth with anybody but something about the darkness of the rooftop and their bodies pressed together made her feel safe. "I haven't celebrated since Vinny and I went undercover," Dinah replied. 

Even though she had brought up Vince with Laurel, the hatred that usually filled her voice was waning and instead replaced by nostalgic reflection. It seemed like she was starting to forgive Laurel, but Laurel knew better than to let herself hope. 

They laid silently for a while, both lost in their own thoughts. 

The target stepped out of view, and they were both instantly on alert. Laurel quickly switched to her infared lens and realized he had simply gone into the other room to take a phone call away from his body guards. 

They both relaxed. As their heartbeats returned to normal, Dinah broke the silence and asked, "So what happened with your case?" 

Laurel smiled at the thought of the kid who got her shot. She had taken out the stitches, but the wound still hurt occasionally, reminding her of the price of being one of the good guys. "His mom and his little brother picked him up last week," she said happily. "I got them some money from the state for wrongful imprisonment and they're putting it into a college fund." 

Dinah smiled at her without an ounce of hatred in her eyes. "You gave him a second chance," she said. Laurel's smile faded. "He deserved his second chance," she replied. 

Sensing Laurel's despondency, Dinah disengaged from her rifle and placed her war hand against Laurel's cheek. Laurel's breath caught in her throat and she closed her eyes as her heartbeat sped up. "Everyone deserves a second chance," Dinah said, with such conviction that Laurel almost let herself believe it. 

Before she knew what was happening, Dinah was kissing her, soft and sweet. A pleasant buzzing filled Laurel's head, and she felt perfectly warm despite the cold. Dinah's lips moved over hers with purpose, making her head spin. She ran her tongue over Dinah's bottom lip, desperate for more contact. 

Dinah broke the kiss hesitantly, saying, "We should probably watch the mark." Laurel nodded, out of breath and barely aware of her own name let alone whoever this Mark character was. 

They settled into their respective positions and just as Laurel's heartbeat began to return to normal, Dinah reached out and grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers.

"I'm glad you got your second chance," Dinah whispered. And for the first time, Laurel was glad too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo sorry if my responses to comments are weird or repetitive, socialization makes me nervous :/


End file.
